FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) _ The Army major charged in the 2009 shooting rampage at Fort Hood will be court-martialed and face the death penalty, but the sister of one of those who was shot to death has mixed emotions about how Nidal Hassan’s case will proceed.
Leila Hunt Willingham tells the AP she still grieves for Specialist Jason Dean Hunt, but, in her words, “No matter what happens to Hasan, my brother is still dead.”
Willingham says that no one seems to understand that the outcome of Hasan’s trial will bring no more peace or closure than she can get on her own.
Hasan is charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder in the November 2009 shooting rampage.
Witnesses testified that a gunman wearing an Army combat uniform shouted “Allahu Akbar!” — which is Arabic for “God is great!” — and opened fire in a small but crowded medical building where deploying soldiers are vaccinated and undergo other tests.
The gunman was identified as Hasan, an American-born Muslim who was scheduled to deploy to Afghanistan the following month.
His lead attorney, John Galligan, had urged the Army in May not to seek the death penalty, because of the cost, time and restrictions of death penalty trials. But Galligan says he believes this is what the Army has wanted to do with the case for some time.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)